A civilian building under construction is seen in this image from television Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. U.S. military helicopters have launched an extremely rare attack on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression." A Syrian government statement said four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside. (AP Photo/Syrian TV via APTN ) ** SYRIA OUT TV OUT**

Syrian television showing footage of an injured woman

Clothes and blankets inside a tent at a civilian building construction site are seen in this image from television Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. U.S. military helicopters have launched an extremely rare attack on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression." A Syrian government statement said four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside. (AP Photo/Syrian TV via APTN ) ** SYRIA OUT TV OUT**

A tent at a civilian building construction site is seen in this image from television Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008. U.S. military helicopters have launched an extremely rare attack on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression." A Syrian government statement said four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction shortly before sundown and fired on workers inside. (AP Photo/Syrian TV via APTN ) ** SYRIA OUT TV OUT**

The Iraqi government has denounced a CIA raid on a compound in a Syrian border village that killed an al-Qa'ida commander who despatched fighters into Iraq.

“The Iraqi government rejects US aircraft bombarding posts inside Syria,” said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh in a surprise rebuke to Washington.

“The constitution does not allow Iraq to be used as a staging ground to attack neighbouring countries.”

The raid is the first on Syrian territory by the US since the invasion of Iraq five years ago.

The operation on Sunday, in which US helicopters landed 24 Special Forces troops in Sukkariyeh, five miles inside Syria near the border town of Abu Kamal, was carried out by the CIA according to US officials in Washington. The US soldiers reportedly killed Abu Ghadiyah, the nom de guerre of Badran Turki Hishan al-Mazidih, who had been denounced by the US for facilitating the “flow of terrorists, weapons and money from Syria to al-Qa'ida in Iraq”. His body was flown back to Iraq said officials.

Syria denied the presence of al-Qa'ida in Sukkariyeh and claimed the dead were local farmers. The Syrian government yesterday ordered the closure of an American school and a US cultural centre in Damascus in retaliation.

Abu Ghadiyah, aided by close family members, had his assets frozen by the US Treasury in February in a directive claiming he was the head of logistics in Syria for al-Qa'ida. The most surprising aspect of the US attack was its timing. Syria has been a conduit for anti-US insurgents since the Sunni Arab uprising against the US occupation started after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

But the Sunni rebellion has largely subsided since 2007 and Syria has become more co-operative in stopping the movement of fighters across the border. The US and Iraqi government also claim to have succeeded in largely eliminating al-Qa'ida in the Anbar province which has a long common border with Syria. Abu Ghadiyah's smuggling activities would have been less significant than in the past.

The CIA-led raid into Syrian territory will deepen suspicions in Syria and Jordan that, as long as the US has a military presence in Iraq, it will be used as a launching pad for operations against them.